Are women being pushed out of hospital too early?

Are women being pushed out of hospital too early?

Experts are insisting that women are being pushed out of hospital too soon after giving birth. According to research, the UK has one of the shortest hospital stay periods in the world and this increases the risk of complications significantly.
Currently, new mothers are kept on maternity wards for about a day and a half on average.

The new research comes just a month after the NHS announced that they are due to give expected mothers £3,000 to encourage them to take charge of private care and home births when planning their delivery.

The new research shows that 30 percent of new mothers in Britain are currently being discharged from hospital less than a day after actually giving birth.

The World Health Organisation’s advice currently suggests that women should be kept in for at least 24 hours to be 100% safe.

A spokesperson for the researchers have told Daily Mail: ‘Short stays can mean there is insufficient time to conduct checks and detect, diagnose or treat problems in mothers or newborns, which can increase the risk of death or illness.

‘It can also mean there is not enough time to educate and support new mothers, which can lead to problems such as difficulties with breastfeeding and lack of maternal confidence.’

There is no doubt that hospital staff are keen to get new mother’s home as soon as possible but is it for the right reasons? Maternity wards have been accused of being under staffed and I know new parents have previously felt neglected or rushed out.

According to research conducted by the Care Quality Commission, women are failed by half of the current maternity wards. 7% of NHS maternity services are inadequate and 41% are in need of improvement.

Do you agree that women should be kept in hospital longer? Should there be a review on the amount of compulsory time new mothers are expected to be kept in hospital for?